December 06, 2013

Friday Sketch

Who doesn't love a good sketch? It helps to take the guesswork out of the page and/or card design, but still allows you to put your own spin on things just be turning the sketch or altering it here and there. Twice a month, we'll be bringing you a new sketch, and showing you a few takes on the sketch by our designers. Today, we have our first sketch for December, courtesy of Becky Fleck.

I loved working with this sketch. I stayed pretty true to the sketch, but I did use a mix of 6 different sized photos and patterned paper pieces instead of using the 6 square elements that are shown on the sketch. I trimmed down two of the 3x4" cards from the Daily Details patterned paper (the "December 25" and the "Oh Christmas Tree" pieces) to fit the space better.

This sketch was such a fun starting point for creating my layout and I didn't need to change it very much at all. To downsize the sketch to suit my 8.5" x 11" layout style, I minimized the number of elements placed on the right side of the photo. I then used this opportunity to create layers and dimension on top of the square elements. I also love the little details that can already be found in the Alpha+Bits negative spaces. The stars reminded me of the little bits that float about inside snow globes when you shake them. Adding details to the circle punched paper pieces, also reminded me of these shaken features inside "round" snow globes.

I stayed pretty close to the sketch, but eliminated two of the squares to better fit my 8.5x11 layout. Working with a smaller size canvas, I rarely include more than two photos on a page. However, I was able to include three on this page by substituting small photos for the rectangle shapes on 2 of the squares. And of course there's always plenty of cute embellishment options to dress up the remaining 2 squares.

I usually just enjoy the newsletter and don't come to the blog but I loved the layout so much, Laura I just had to come and tell you! It just screams "boy" and I think boy layouts are the hardest to do. The additional layouts here on the blog are amazing and the sketch is awesome. Thank you for the inspiration. I'll have to start coming back to the blog regularly again because I'm missing a lot. Take care. :)

Kelly Holbrook I love the way you used the grid design as frames for some mini photos to complement the main focus and the little elf is just too cute. I think I might have to play with this sketch!Thanks for the inspiration Bella ladies!